Looking to 2027 with Isla Short.

Words by Isla Short | Photography by Piper Albrecht and Pete Scullion

2027 will be my seventh year with Hunt Wheels and one that holds the promise of new adventures by bike, racing goals that I’ve never set before, and a curiosity for where my limits are in a different kind of bike racing.

This summer, I announced a shift away from XCO World Cup racing and the end of a chapter in my cycling career. Having pursued success on the WC circuit for thirteen years and produced a long list of achievements I’m immensely proud of, I felt it was time for a change in my relationship with professional bike racing. I raced my first MTB marathon event in 2018 and my first marathon World Championships a year later. These races were always planned into my year as either preparation for the ‘main season’, ie. the World Cup calendar, or as a bit of fun at the end of a long summer at the business end of bike racing. Since those first events, I was sure that towards the end of my career I wanted to give myself the opportunity to explore that world more fully, and this year I’ve felt the temptation of these new and unknown goals strongly.

At the end of September I won the 3 Peaks Cyclocross and beat the long standing women’s course record. This event was originally supposed to be a fun side quest that I could prepare for alongside what I call the refurbishment of my racing career - the process of figuring out exactly what kind of bike racer I wanted to be and what I wanted to achieve now that I was no longer tied to goals at XCO World Cups. I didn’t expect to fall in love with the 3 Peaks so much: not just the race itself, but the process of understanding a brand new event, of learning to race a completely different bike and of rediscovering the simple joy of pushing my limits without expectation, pressure or baggage. I rediscovered a freedom in bike racing that I hadn’t felt for a long time. This event has enabled me to carve out my new identity as a bike racer - it’s shown me that I'm motivated by exploring my own limits in spaces that centre around novelty, adventure and community.

Racing a drop bar bike off-road has ignited a curiosity for gravel racing that I had no idea I’d get excited about, ever. This has led me to enter Gravelburn, a seven day stage race in the Great Karoo Region of South Africa, at the end of this month. I’ve raced one gravel event before in 2023, so I’m diving in at the deep end, but this is precisely the way in which I want to race my bike. I will always be a mountain biker at heart and my performance goals in 2027 will centre around MTB marathon, but if I find the same joy and enthusiasm at Gravelburn that 3 Peaks has given me, I might venture further into this new-age discipline on the sidelines.

Hunt took a leap of faith earlier this summer when I declared my big new plans with them and I’m so excited that they will continue with me into this new adventure. This fresh territory is an opportunity for me to expand my knowledge of the full range of Hunt Wheels. I will continue to race on the Proven Race XC UD carbon spoked wheels in my MTB ventures, and I’m excited to upgrade my gravel setup with the brand new 5am Gravel Limitless wheels. To have complete confidence in a brand is a special thing and it’s even more so to have that feeling reciprocated. I’m excited to see where this unfamiliar path will take us together!